Crazeegeekchick.com

Setting GraffitiCMS to use Your Gmail Account for sending Mail

Dana Coffey — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:40:00 GMT

I recently had to set up my Graffiti CMS blog to send email with my Gmail account, because I don’t pay for email on my domain. I realized in the process, that I couldn’t really find a lot about how to do this. I used some code I found while researching an auto emailer program and popped in the server, port and ssl information and Voila! Email works like a charm.

Just go into the Site Options under Email settings and put in the info. The mojo is in using port 587 and smtp.gmail.com as the server. Make sure you check the option to Use SSL. Your “from” address can be any text formatted as an email address (I used “admin@crazeegeekchick.com"). For the user and password, I entered my gmail account information. It works great.

20 Free Video Recording, Ripping and Converting Tools

Dana Coffey — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:24:00 GMT

One thing I share with many other geeks is my love for audio, video and my numerous devices. I like to watch movies on my PC, on my PSP, on my PS3, on various tv’s in the house and I like to be able to save video and audio that moves me. I’ve found many things on YouTube worth keeping, and I love making funny ring tones out of YouTube viral videos. I like having control over size and quality of my media files. In all my downloading, grabbing, borrowing, copying and acquiring of media, I often need tools for editing or converting to the various formats I might need. I’ve compiled a list of 20 absolutely free applications that will do this for you. I even found a tool that will capture ALL audio produced by your sound card, as well as two tools that are useful for recording songs from Pandora (and others) Internet radio. This is useful to me if I want to just save off a song for the purpose of finding the artist on iTunes or Amazon later. So sit back, see the possibilities unfold before you and be sure to chime in below in the comments and let me know what YOU have found to be useful tools for Internet media.

Audio, Video, Flash and YouTube Grabbers

Free Video Downloader Browser Extension for FireFox by Sothink– for Windows, Linux and Mac, this app can be used to download embedded Flash videos and direct Flash video content in different formats including flv, wmv, asf, avi, mov, rm and rmvb. It also lets you download Flash SWF files like Flash games, Flash cards and presentation, etc from Internet at the same time.
UnPlug – Another FireFox Extension, UnPlug scans web pages and tells you where media players are getting their data from, and allows you to easily save the media file. UnPlug works for lots of sites including youtube.com, video.google.com, metacafe.com, vimeo.com, veoh.com and lots, lots more.
aTube Catcher – Windows Only – This app will allow you to download videos from sites like YouTube, Google, etc. They support over 100 streaming sites. It grabs and encodes into files for ipod, psp, etc – in formats like mpeg4 avi, 3gp, 3g2, avi, xvid, mp4, mp3, mp2, wma, wmv, gif, flac, wav, psp, mpg, vob, ogg, mov.
YouTube Downloader - (from CNET) this simple freeware application works pretty well, given how basic the interface is. It has two main features: to download FLV files from YouTube, and to convert them to most major formats. If there's a YouTube URL in your clipboard, it will automatically paste it for you when you click on the dialog box. From there, just hit OK and the downloading will commence. One more left-click is all it takes to load the file in the converter, which supports iPhone, iPod, PSP, cell phone, AVI, MP3, WMV, and Xvid. Surprisingly, there's also a basic video editor for cropping videos by time stamp. You can also cut out the sound when converting.
Leawo Free YouTube Download – this isn’t much different from the others. it has a lighter footprint and seems a bit simpler to use.
MP3myMP3 Recorder – This app is great for recording internet radio, or any other audio you can hear on the computer straight into mp3 or wav. This application works with the sound card. It supports cd ripping, batch renaming, silence detection and scheduled recordings. This is the neatest thing I’ve played with since I got that first cassette recorder when I was 8 and recorded America’s Top 40 with Casey Kasem.
TubeMaster++ – This is a powerful java based tool can capture multimedia files you are watching or listening from your internet browser (FLV,MP3,MP4). Captured files can be saved directly on your computer or converted to other popular video or audio formats (AVI, MPEG, MP3, MP4, IPod, PSP ...).
xVideoServiceThief – Thus guy runs on Mac, Linux and Windows. Like many others, it allows you to download and convert videos from YouTube and any other sites that support HTTP and RTMP protocols. It supports simultaneous downloads and custom JavaScript plugins. I think this is probably my favorite in this genre.
Orbit Downloader – Touted as a download manager, this app made the list due to its ability to download ALL streaming media. According to Mashable, “Social site downloading is the main appeal of this program. It supports HTTP(S), FTP, Metalink, RTSP, "PNM, MMS, NSS, RTMP, embedded video from sites like YouTube, music from sites like Pandora , and files from sites like Rapidshare . It works with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Netscape, and Maxthon”. This is the only app I’ve found to grab the Pandora Radio stream.

Audio/Video Format Conversion and Ripping

MediaCoder – This is an app that converts video formats into many different other formats. MediaCoder is a free audio and video batch transcoder which uses various open source audio and video codecs and tools to transcode different audio/video formats and has many extra features. Common uses for the program include compression, file type conversion and extraction of audio from video files. Many formats are supported, including MP3, Vorbis, AAC, Windows Media Audio, RealAudio, WAV, H.264, Xvid, DivX 4/5, MPEG-2, AVI, CD, and DVD.
Handbrake – This one is my favorite. It is an open-source video transcoder for Mac, Linux and Windows. While originally designed to rip dvd’s to avi’s , current versions also deal with any video file and even audio files.
Format Factory – You can also rip dvd with this software as well. This is a Windows only app and it supports most file formats. They sell themselves as converting video for ipod, psp etc.
Videora Converter – these guys have a video converter for you no matter what your device might be! This includes, mp3 players, phones, game systems etc. Tons of flavors to choose from!
Avi2DVD- will convert AVI and others to DVD format. There are some codecs needed, which you can read about on their website.
Zamzar – If you don’t really want to install a tool to do file conversion, then give Zamzar a try. Not just limited to video, this software converts from many different file types to others. It is free for up to 100 MB, but if you want more, they have a reasonable pricing structure – and even include some online storage in the pricing plan.

Video Editing

AVS Video Editor – A pretty powerful Windows editor that supports nearly all formats. It performs conversions, captures video from external devices, allows for editing with effects and transitions, and more advanced editing tools. The free version puts a little log into the compilation, but you can upgrade to get rid of that for $30.00.
Free DVD Ripper – This little guy not only rips dvd’s, but it also has some powerful editing features that allow you to crop, trim, cut, join, custom and add special effects to your video.
Free Video Cutter – As the name suggests, this tool allows you to cut off chunks of your video (such as trailers, previews etc). It supports most common formats.
Aimersoft DVD Ripper – This is another ripper that made it to the free editing category due to its built-in editing features. It does the expected ripping job and allows you to trim, adjust brightness, contrast, audio etc.
Video Splitter – This is a lightweight and fast tool that will split up digital movie files without recompression or loss of quality (these guys have tons of other tools too).

A Dog’s Tips to Having a Better Life

Dana Coffey — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:15:00 GMT

When it comes to enjoying life and not taking myself too seriously, my best teachers are my dogs. I find I’m much happier when I employ their way of doing things. Here are some tips I found that help me to lead a more spiritual and happy life – all given to us by dogs!

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride.
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
When it’s in your best interest, practice obedience.
Let others know when they’ve invaded your territory.
Take naps and stretch before rising.
Run, romp and play daily.
Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you’re not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
No matter how often you’re scolded, don’t buy into the guilt thing and pout .. run right back and make friends.
Delight in the simple joys of a long walk.

Be Part of the LIGHT - Just Say NO to Negativity – Online and Offline

Dana Coffey — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:58:00 GMT

I’m a sensitive soul. I tend to absorb the energy to which I expose myself. I’ve found that one way to protect myself and my outlook is to NOT be part of negativity. Have I mastered this? Of course not. But I am definitely making progress.

In my offline life, I’ve taken some steps to reduce the negative energy in my life. I try to no longer participate in gossip sessions. I have been avoiding people who tend to whine and complain with no talk of solutions. I try to be uplifting and supportive. I practice mentally listing 5 things that I *LIKE* about people who annoy the heck out of me. I’ve been trying very hard to “live and let live” while doing my own thing. I try to take the high road when somebody wrongs me. I limit my exposure to televised news, gossip rags and militant cause-promoters. I try to entertain an opposing point of view with respect, even if I may disagree.

Online, my socializations revolve around email, instant messengers, my blog, Twitter and Facebook. On Twitter in particular, I follow over 2,000 people. It’s become quite unmanageable to catch all the posts in my feed, and I often miss lots of valuable stuff. To pare this down to a manageable number, I’ve been looking at those I follow and asking myself, “Do these tweets provide me value? Do they enrich my knowledge, my spirit or my life?” If the answer to those questions is “NO”, then I’m un-following. It’s not a personal attack, and I certainly encourage people to be themselves, but my time is valuable as is my psychic energy. I choose not to be a part of the negative. It damages me and does not help me to become who I wish to become. Occasionally, I might point out the negative tone of one’s tweets. If I get a verbally abusive or snide response, well there you go – bozo bit flipped. No problem. I will un-follow AND block. I do this again, for MY own well being. These individuals are more than welcome to block me back, although that seems kind of silly (and in some cases oxymoronic) because it’s unlikely I’ll be interacting with them from that point forward. It’s ok though. I understand. The block is against the negativity, not the person. Again – differing viewpoints are fine – abusive comments towards me or others is negativity, and I can’t afford to have that in my life.

Posting nasty comments on my blog is another form of forcing negativity upon me, and I will not have that. I delete those comments and block the sending IP immediately. It’s self-preservation.

For me, it’s all about getting value from my interactions. Value for me consists of helpful, uplifting and positive experiences. Value for me includes love, humor and knowledge. These days I protect my serenity with vigilance and abandon. I wish to be part of the positive in the Universe – part of the light. I need others to help me do that.

Why I Love twitt(url)y

Dana Coffey — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:18:00 GMT

The web is flooded with third party Twitter tools, and most of them have not rendered me joyous in their application. Ok, none have really tripped my trigger to the point of every-day use. None except twitt(url)y . If you already follow me on twitter, then you know I love to post links in the mornings. Most of these are either software/web development related, a little politically charged or weird and funny.

I love the weird and funny ones best! Well Once upon a time, I had to go find all that stuff myself! Even using StumbleUpon was tedious and time consuming for me. Then along comes Twitter. My morning ritual became one of scrolling back through the night’s tweets to see what links I’d like to check out. Then twitt(url)y came along and did the hard work for me! The concept is very simple. They track the links people post to Twitter and they rank them according to number of tweets. This is even better than going through trending topics, because you get the best of the web already vetted through the users of Twitter! Cool huh!

So it’s not often that I bother to blog my love for a third party Twitter tool, but today, I’m loving this one!

Project Huron Wants YOU to Test Cloud-Based Data Services

Dana Coffey — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:39:00 GMT

Microsoft Sync Framework is a comprehensive synchronization platform enabling collaboration and offline for applications, services and devices with support for any data type, any data store, any transfer protocol, and network topology. These guys are putting together an initiative called Project Huron wherein early adopters can kick the tires on cloud based data storage and access for free.

Project Huron is part of Azure, and its goal is “to remove the typical complexities (configuration, scalability, security, etc) involved with sharing database information between local databases such as SQL Server and SQL Compact and provide simple UI tools for configuration and sync components developers can embed in existing applications,” according to a blog post by Microsoft.

To check it out – just go here: http://www.microsoft.com/azure/huron.mspx